辛苦 xīnkǔ — hard, laborious, tiring (of work); "you must be tired" (polite)
xīnkǔ (first tone, high and level)xin1ku3
hard, laborious, tiring (of work); "you must be tired" (polite)
HSK 4· HSK 1–4 (classic)adjective
Meanings
hard, laborious, tiring (of work); "you must be tired" (polite)
Physically or mentally taxing, said of work and of the people doing it — 辛 bitter, hard, 苦 suffering. It doubles as a set courtesy: 你辛苦了 said to someone finishing a task, closer to "thanks for your trouble" than a literal comment on tiredness.
adjective
Example sentences
- 医生的工作很辛苦，经常很晚才回家。醫生的工作很辛苦，經常很晚才回家。Yīshēng (first tone, high and level) de (neutral tone) gōngzuò (first tone, high and level) hěn (third tone, dipping) xīnkǔ, (first tone, high and level) jīngcháng (first tone, high and level) hěn (third tone, dipping) wǎn (third tone, dipping) cái (second tone, rising) huí (second tone, rising) jiā. (first tone, high and level)···
A doctor’s work is hard — they often don’t get home until late.
- 大家工作了一天，都辛苦了，早点儿休息吧。Dàjiā (fourth tone, falling) gōngzuòle (first tone, high and level) yìtiān, (fourth tone, falling) dōu (first tone, high and level) xīnkǔ (first tone, high and level) le, (neutral tone) zǎodiǎnr (third tone, dipping) xiūxi (first tone, high and level) ba. (neutral tone)···
Everyone has worked a whole day and must be tired — let’s rest early.